Misunderstood
by Sumiregawa Nenene
Summary: [Otomebased] Erstin is the only one who seems to know the true Nina, but why is it she can't understand herself? Oneshot, complete.


Authors Notes: This was written at the time of episode 6 being released in Japan, and while it was being fansubbed. I understand fully the spoilers from later episodes would discredit part of this fanfic, and while I might later go back to brush up this story, I'm leaving it as is for now because I don't feel that it necessarily ruins what was being intended overall. Consider it AU, if you'd like. Also, this fanfic depicts a more-than-friends way of looking at things between two girls. Please do not read if that is not your thing.

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The window was left open that night. A humid breeze blew through her hair insistently. It smelled like... chlorine. Ers sighed softly. It seemed that the creature she'd been entangled with earlier today would cause that scent to stay on those it touched for at least the next week, no matter what amount of scrubbing was done.

To top it off, she felt sick. She'd eaten very little that evening at dinner in the cafeteria, and had asked to be excused from her attendant duties in order to rest in the dorms for a while. She'd played the ham enough to convince Youko-sensei to let her out of the infirmary, mostly because a doctor's attention tended to make her feel even worse, but she honestly did feel very queasy. It wasn't out of the ordinary, though, and she felt certain it would pass before morning, especially since she'd been allowed to rest throughout the evening. The cool bath had helped, certainly.

In the meanwhile, she was sweating more than a bit. Carefully, she pulled the sheets down and snuck her legs above them. She peered above the pillow and saw Arika, the newest roommate, sleeping soundly at the desk. Her letter was sprawled beneath her, and a haphazardly placed blanket was covering her back.

Instinctively, Ers smiled. Arika-chan was so cute, sometimes. But where had the blanket come from? she wondered, laying her head back down. Some errant strands of hair pushed themselves into her eyes when she did so and she reached to move them aside. As she did so, the form of Nina, across the room in her own bed, became unobscured. Ers started. Could it be, that she had been the one...?

It wasn't that Nina was always cold-hearted. It was just that was the image she wanted to impress upon her classmates, after all. Even her acts of help, whether it be on sparring tips, or general classwork, always seemed laced with the impression that she was doing it only so that they might become a stronger Otome. Never was there mention that she had been doing it out of her own kindness. And everyone outside of this room believed it.

But Ers didn't. The actions happened with such pattern and predictability to her, she knew that underneath Nina did care. She knew that Nina was softer and kinder than what she projected. But even with the predictability, there was always room for a surprise or two.

Nina had never truely had a rival worthy to her. For the most part, Tomoe-san knew that she could not compete on Nina's level. There was a fire and determination in Nina, that Tomoe understood was beyond herself. She definitely had the determination, but not necessarily the fire. Arika truely did produce a rivalry, they both had the ambitions for it. But then, Arika certainly didn't make her warm like Nina did...

Ers blushed madly at the conclusion she was drawing. It made her warm whenever she thought about Nina. Recently, she'd be chalking it up to simply being a roommate; quite probably being flustered about being the only one as close to the Number One Coral as any other person in that academy. Nina was a bit famous, and a show-off, after all. But yesterday, in the pool, when she'd been speaking without thinking - what had she said?

Nervously, and feeling more than warm again, she combed away her bangs from her face. She purposely took in some deep breaths, attempting to calm herself. Her parents had, naturally, told her that she was forbidden from considering a boyfriend. It wasn't so hard for her to do so, as there weren't very many males that she interacted with on a normal basis, anyhow. They never specified anything beyond that, and neither did the school policies. Socially she knew it wasn't acceptable under normal circumstances, but here, at this academy and in her own mind, the concept was a black hole.

Ers was quite certain that Arika's finding of a 'weak point' had yielded a little more of a reaction in Nina than mere ticklishness. Certain areas on people were sensitive to touch; she had slowly been learning her own. Watching Nina's being attacked as she had yesterday was very embarrassing, but at the same time she admitted it was very interesting. Frustrated now by her trains of thought, the blonde pulled her pillow over her head in a silly attempt to bury them away.

_You shouldn't be thinking about this! It's weird! And anyway, you have to get up to go to class early tomorrow morn-_ Ers' thought was broken off quite suddenly when she heard the rustling of sheets and felt weight against her side. Someone had sat down. She froze, and hoped with intensity that it was only Arika. A single green, fearful eye peered from underneath the white pillowcase. Apparently, she'd not hoped hard enough.

Nina's naturally narrow-slitted eyes seemed to pierce into her. She felt like a pinned mouse beneath a predator's talons, even though she could tell quite plainly that Nina was in no way upset at that moment. It was inexplicable and made her uncomfortable, and even so, no matter what she did, she couldn't bring herself to squirm. She swore that her heartbeat reverberated in her ear when Nina eventually said her name. "Ers..."

The blonde did her best to swallow the stopper in her throat. "Y-yes, Nina-chan?" she eventually squeaked out.

Nina seemed to have something on her mind to say, but she tilted her head here. "You're not afraid of me, are you?"

"No!" she yelped, again out of her own control. She continued quieter, looking furtively over to the still-sleeping figure at the desk. "N-no... Nina-chan." she managed to say in more level and hushed tones, with what she hoped was a reassuring smile on her face. She really wasn't scared of her.

Nina frowned then, folded her arms and looked aside pensively. After another odd moment of silence, she turned back to look Ers in the eye, though her arms remained crossed. "Ers, when you... I..." She seemed to lose her train of thought there, the words and indeed the very thoughts escaping her as she studied Ers' face.

Ers' smile was slipping. Nina was being very serious with her right now. That was rare. Her forehead creased and she sat up. Without thinking, she touched the other girl's arm. "What's wrong, Nina-chan?"

Nina's vision jumped in a series of small hops to where Ers' hand was. The dark-haired girl's face was emotionless, as it often was. As a result, Ers became quickly self-conscious and snatched her hand away, holding it up to her chest with its partner. "I'm sorry..."

The eyes, quite suddenly, retrained themselves on Ers' face. The other did her best to stay still again. It was almost as though she saw right through her; could tell how she felt, even though she herself thought it was a mixture of too many things to consolidate into one description.

It was only a brief moment before Nina stood again. Was it her imagination, or a play of the light that she saw the corner of Nina's mouth upturn in a smile...? Ers didn't have much time to consider. "It's nothing, Ers. It's fine."

More than a little confused, and definitely concerned the blonde couldn't yet think of anything to respond. The Number One Coral stood, and reached back almost as a second thought and brushed some of the tousled bangs away from the Ers' eyes.

Frowning now, Ers watched Nina pick her way softly to the bed. The dark-haired one paused at the edge of the bed and her head made a distinct bob, as though something had occured to her. She turned a glance sidelong to Ers, making her appear even more exotic than usual.

"Hey. Be more careful, okay Ers?"

The other was now quite completely out of place. She opened her mouth, but her mind wouldn't cooperate.

Nina turned the top half of her body then, to look at her at least a bit more directly. "Okay? Ers?" she repeated in a punctuated manner, her face as expressionless as always.

This broke her from her reverie. "Y-yes." Her mouth stayed open, ridiculously enough.

Nina, seemingly satisfied, plopped herself back down on the bed. Her frame heaved with a yawn as she went to curl back up on her side, back facing her. "Good," she affirmed, the sleep in her voice. She went about pulling the sheets back over her. "I can't be around to save you forever. I'll have a Master to think of."

Without realizing it, a slight catch was in her voice when she whispered back, "Of course."

Nina didn't hear it.

The last noises Ers heard were the rustling of sheets when she went to get back under the covers herself, and Arika's loud snores. Her sleep was not a fitful one.


End file.
